Paper Lives
by idealrain
Summary: When helping Maggie sort out Mickey's office papers, Julie discovered something papers that should've been buried with Mickey. I don't own Days or its' characters. Companion piece to Soul mate.


Paper Lives

When helping Maggie sort out Mickey's office papers, Julie discovered something papers that should've been buried with Mickey. I don't own Days or its' characters. Companion piece to Soul mate.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Julie asked.

"It needs to be done. The lease is up on the office and I need to settle Mickey's estate sometime," Maggie said.

"I thought you had all this done," Julie said.

"Um, Janet sent over one box of personal things. But Mickey was such a packrat. I just need to get this done."

Julie bit her lip, wondering if she should mention the empty bottle that was found in the trash. She took a deep breath.

"Maggie, how are you, really? I know we haven't been around as much as we should be with Grandma being sick and all. But are you doing o.k.? Do you need me to move back?"

"Ah, well, it helps having the girls at home and Will pops in a lot. We might need to hire a nurse for Alice but for right now, I can find people to sit with her if I can't be there," Maggie said.

"Maggie, I mean, are you still making your meetings?"

Maggie flushed. "Why are you bringing that up? Of course I am. I've been sober for twenty-two years; I'm not going to throw that away."

"O.k., o.k." Julie held her hands up, "I found an empty bottle in the trash at the house and was concerned. I should've known better."

"An empty bottle?" Maggie was confused, until she remembered," Ah, yes, Mickey's bourbon. Janet put it in the box. I don't know what she was thinking but it got dumped. _I _dumped the bottle in the kitchen sink."

"So, you're o.k.?"

"I'm sober. Some days are better than others. But having two girls at the house help greatly. I know at five every week night I'm eating with Mia or Melanie or both. I don't know what I would do without them," Maggie said.

"You would come with us and travel the world. That's still an option," Julie said.

"Ah, not right now. I just want to get my feet back on the ground," Maggie said, starting to pull out papers.

"What are you looking for?"

"Our wills and just general family papers. Mickey kept a file here….."Maggie searched through the papers.

"Here, let me take some." Julie grabbed some papers too fast and papers flew everywhere. Picking up the nearest ones. "Decree of divorce for Michael Horton, Sr. and Margaret Horton…Maggie, these are dated for this year."

Maggie flushed. "Yeah, they are."

"Maggie…"

"Julie, just shred them, please," Maggie said.

"Fine. But tell me everything," Julie said.

"There's nothing to tell. I wanted a divorce and Mickey…." Maggie sighed.

"You wanted a divorce." Julie closed her eyes. "This is none of my business. And for once I don't want to know."

"Julie…."

"Were you having an affair again?" Julie blurted out. Maggie stared at her friend.

"No. I wasn't screwing around and neither was your uncle. Not everything is about sex," Maggie snapped.

"I'm sorry. I just thought….I wasn't thinking."

"Really I'm surprised. You don't think sometimes? Especially before you speak?" Maggie said, sarcastically.

"Maggie…"Julie said.

"I'm sorry. I challenged Mickey and he called my bluff. The man knew me too well. Over Christmas, we talked. I mean, we actually sat down and talk like we used to do. When he surprised me with the cruise, I was thrilled. Then…."Maggie shook her head. "Must've been bad karma."

"Oh, sweetheart. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Julie hugged her friend.

"Julie, I loved your uncle. He was my best friend for thirty years, my lover for most of them and the father to my children. But we had problems and now I need to forgive myself for not resolving them. But, Julie, I get so angry at Mickey. I know he had no choice but he abandoned me. I don't want to deal with this life. I want Mickey. I just want Mickey," Maggie cried.

"I know. Life's…."Julie trailed off.

Maggie suddenly panicked. "Julie, no one can know about those papers. If Sarah and Melissa knew…"

Julie turned on the shredder and ran the papers through. "No one will ever know, sweetie. And Maggie, Uncle Mickey loved you. You know that, right?"

"I know. I loved him. He was my life and now I feel like I brought this on myself."

"Sweetie, you didn't. You and Uncle Mickey would've fix things. Maggie, he knew how much you loved him."

"Thank you. We should finish this up."

Julie knew the subject was dropped forever. Later that night, when she lay next to Doug, Julie made a promise to herself to love her husband while she had a chance. She didn't want the same haunted look in her eyes that she saw in Maggie's.


End file.
